Why Shashi Sinha would chose an insider in succession plan - Report

For the successful continuity and leadership transition in any organisation, a well-laid out succession plan is a must. The Godrej family, Mukesh Ambani have been lessons in succession strategy done right.

Recently, Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands India, shared his succession plan at the agency in an interaction with Storyboard18. Sinha said that given a chance, he would promote a person from inside rather than get someone from the outside. “We have leaders who have been with us for years. The culture fosters it...They play together, they work together, you're building teams, and that's true for the entire organisation,” he told Storyboard18.

Countering views that going with insiders would keep out fresh thinking, Sinha stressed that promoting the leadership that has been there provided continuity, and added that there were many clients like Amul that saw the value in such continuity.

While speaking on cultivating and fostering talent, Sinha spoke about there being two parts to talent – quality talent and culture, which were intertwined. He admitted that compensation in agencies is under pressure right now.

At the same time, Sinha also lamented that intense competition amongst agencies had led to them undercutting each other and offering services a cheaper rates. He asserted that agencies needed to have some table stakes that they didn’t go below.